Feather dispensing unit



Sept. 29, 1953 P. w'. BEHR FEATHER DISPENSING UNIT Filed Sept. l, 1948 Pfalz/0 A oRNEy INVENTOR WWW/ Patented Sept. 29, 1953 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE FEATHER DISPENSING UNIT Philip W. Behr, Kew Gardens, N. Y.

Application September 1, 1948, Serial No. 47,160

1 Claim. 1

My invention relates to a portable` apparatus for dispensing and inserting feathers, down, and other suitable lling materials into a pillow, cushion or comforter, for increasing the contents thereof. f

The average household article containing fill'- ing material soon becomes compressed and loses its resiliency and buoyancy. These articles are normally discarded, or their contents totally replaced with new feathers or down, by factory methods.

I have discovered that the resiliency and buoyancy of used pillows as an example, may be restored by insertion into the used pillow of a supplementary portion of new feathers, and accordingly it is the primary object of my invention to provide a device containing feathers or down for this purpose.

It is a problem, however, for the average housewife to insert the supplemental unit of feathers into the pillows and it is among the further objects of my invention to provide a dispensing device containing feathers having a reduced neck portion for insertion into an opened edge of the pillow or article; to provide means for retaining the neck of the dispenser within the pillow opening while dispensing its contents; to provide means for readily opening the dispenser longitudinally as it is pushed through the pillow opening, and to enable the foregoing to 'be accomplished without diiiiculty by a housewife.

I accomplish these and other objects of my invention and obtain my new results as will be apparent from the device described in the following specification, particularly pointed out in the claim, and illustrated in the accompanying drawing in which:

Fig. 1 is a perspective view of my dispenser open at the neck portion thereof.

Fig. 2 is a similar view with the neck portion closed.

Fig. 3 illustrates my dispenser in perspective with its neck portion inserted through an opening in the pillow, and dispenser-retaining means positioned inside the pillow for holding the neck portion within the pillow,

Fig. 4 illustrates a perspective view of my dispenser largely pushed through the pillow opening, with my dispenser-opening-tab for releasing the contents as the dispenser is gradually pushed into the pillow.

Fig. 5 is a plane elevation of the upper portion of a modified form or dispenser.

In Fig. 1, reference numeral Iii designates my dispenser made of readily collapsible, inexpensive material, such as paper or other suitable substance. For purposes that will hereinafter become clear, a thin plastic material is preferable for the body of the dispenser that may be heat-sealed, and readily torn in a predetermined manner when desired. My dispenser is provided with a reduced neck portion Il for insertion into the opening made in a pillow.

The upper wall of the dispenser may be suitably slotted which slots are transversely kpositioned with respect to each other as at I2 and I3, and a strip of shape-retaining material I4 inserted therethrough, to be employed for the dual purpose of acting as a retainer for the dispenser, when inserted inside the pillow, and for keeping the folded end I5, of the dispenser in closed position as shown in Fig. 2, where the ends I6 and I'I of the strip are illustrated as being bent over to keep the end of the dispenser from opening.

The retaining Vstrip I4 may be made of a section of flat wire covered with paper, or some equivalent construction capable of performing a similar function. Instead of inserting the strip through openings I2 and I3 it may be transversely glued or otherwise aflixed to the dispenser wall.

Running longitudinally of the dispenser and preferably along the middle of one face I8 thereof, is a `strip of material I9- which is ailixed to the face t8 of the dispenser in such a way that pulling the free end or tab v2D of the strip will cause vthe dispenser face i8 to be longitudinally severed, and along the line 2I, causing a longitudinal opening 22 to appear as shown in dotted lines in Fig. 4, which opening releases the contents of the dispenser in the pillow.

In operation, the dispenser is employed as follows: The two ends I6 and I'I of the retaining strip I4, as shown in Fig. 2, are opened and the end I5 of the neck II of the dispenser III, is unrolled, as shown in Fig. l.

A pillow 25 shown las an example is then opened as at 26 at one of its seams 21, and the neck and retainer strip I4 with ends I6 and I1 inserted through opening 26 and straightened out as shown in Fig. 3. The neck I I of the dispenser is provided with tapering sides I Ia, so as to cause the neck to be wedged in the pillow opening 26,

preventing escape of the contents. Meanwhile the tab 20 is permitted to be positioned externally of the pillow rendering it :accessible for the dispenser-serving operation.

As the contents of the neck portion of the dispenser fall into the pillow, the tab 20 is pulled longitudinally in the direction towards the unopened portion thereof, allowing the contents to be released. As the dispenser empties, it is pushed further into the opened pillow, until the desired amount of the contents is released, the dispenser and pillow at this point appearing as shown in Fig. 4. The closed end Ia of the dispenser may then be shaken thoroughly and the empty container removed slowly, as it is shaken, to insure that the contents are completely freed and in the pillow.

The severed dispenser may be entirely forced into the pillow opening retaining the tab 20, the

remaining end of which may be heat-sealed for its entire width, as at 2 la, as shown in Fig. l, to permit the dispenser to be removed by the permanently aflixed portion 2 la. The retainer ends are bent back, to permit withdrawal, and the pillow opening is sewn shut. Finally the pillow is shaken and pumped up until the added feather contents are distributed throughout.

In Fig. 5, the dispenser 30 is shown provided with parallel side edges 3|, the edges being tapered as indicated by 32 at the neck portion 33, to facilitate entry in the pillow opening.

One material for making the dispenser, found on the market is a copolymer of polyvinyl chloride and polyvinyl acetate. Other materials having similar properties may be used. The strip I9 may be of similar material but preferably of heavier weight, and differently colored to render it easily visible. The strip is heat-sealed to the outer wall I8 of the dispenser which wall will become severed when the free tab 20 is pulled back upon itself. One of the methods of heat-sealing employs electronically produced heat for this purpose.

Instead of the heat-sealed strip, a string 34 adhesively secured to the inside of the wall 35 of the dispenser can be utilized. The edge 36 of the neck 33, may be notched as at 31 to facilitate the wall severing. The end 38 of the string is externally positioned, as is tab 20 in Fig. 3, when the neck portion is inserted into the pillow opening, to facilitate the severing operation.

Throughout the specification and claim where pillow is used, the word is intended to embrace any article containing feathers which word is used to embrace any resilient type of loose filling material or combination thereof, as for example, feathers, down, kapok, etc.

I have thus described my invention, but I desire it understood that it is not confined to the particular forms or uses shown and described, the

same being merely illustrative, and that the invention may be carried out in other ways without departing from the spirit of my invention, and, therefore, I claim broadly the right to employ all equivalent instrumentalities coming within the scope of the appended cla-im, and by means of which, objects of my invention are attained and new results accomplished, as it is obvious that the particular embodiments herein shown and described are only some of the many that can be employed to attain these objects and accomplish these results.

What I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is as follows:

The method of adding feathers to a pillow which comprises inserting the neck of a collapsible container having a tapered body filled with feathers into an opening in the pillow, securing a retaining means attached to the container to the inside of the pillow to hold the container to the pillow, thereafter slotting the container immediately adjacent the opening to release the feathers in the neck of the collapsible container into the opening of the pillow to free the neck for further insertion of the slotted portion inside the opening, and continuing the slotting operation longitudinally down the container and forcing the slotted portion inside the pillow until the entire contents of the container are inside the pillow, and finally removing the empty and slotted container from the pillow.

PHILIP W. BEHR.

References Cited in the le of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 113,394 Brown Apr. 4, 1871 642,302 Davis Jan. 30, 1900 805,453 Deegan et al Nov. 28, 1905 1,068,435 Kornblueh July 29, 1913 1,072,914 Comings Sept. 9, 1913 1,334,745 Farr Mar. 23, 1920 1,790,415 Fisher et al Jan. 27, 1931 1,827,636 Ames Oct. 13, 1931 1,949,121 Herder Feb. 27, 1934 2,128,374 Midulla IAug. 30, 1938 2,306,335 Feigenbutz Dec. 22, 1942 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 45,512 Denmark Apr. l, 1932 290,896 Germany Mar. 23, 1916 387,271 Great Britain Feb. 2, 1933 

